For me, not only was the initial cost of the axe less, but the necessary upgrades were cheaper too. The other thing is that the noid on an axe is ~$30 vs the DMs $80, the lower board is $25 vs the DMs $50. I think the DM shoots a little better in stock form, but the overall benefits of the axe swayed me that way.

I would towards the Axe between the two due to the reasons blueshifty mentioned, not to mention if something goes wrong with your Axe, the customer service from Kee/Empire is just plain awesome.

Indeed. There's not just a ton of lifetime warrantied guns on the market, in fact, they're the only one I know of. Since I post in the VS forum a lot I get a substantial amount of PMs about what I shoot so I'll give even a little more about my thoughts on the axe.

-Lifetime warranty for the original owner (I've heard Kee will take care of second hand owners too)
-Eigenbolt makes the axe silky smooth and dead quiet. Not to mention one of the easiest guns on paint since the LVL 10 automag.
-Parts, if not covered by warranty, are dirt cheap and abundantly available. The virtue upper/ eyes are nice and reduce the microswitch weight making a more pleasant trigger pull.
-I love enclosed bolt markers. This is the main reason I don't shoot a vice.
-Field strippable. I hate having 50 tools laying on a pick nick table while I try to get back in the game. The axe is toolless and a swab can be run through it and lube on the bolt guide in only a few seconds.
- Lube and go operation. It is seriously a pull it out and play week after week.
- No macroline. Not that it matters but it's one less thing to keep in the gear bag.
- Intuitive tuning. Even with a lurker bolt these can be tuned over a chrono in less than 5 minutes EASILY.

For my wants/ needs the axe is pretty nice and is a gun I'm not worried about wrecking. No need for an OLED or trigger upgrade so it's more money I can spend on paint.

I agree with your friend. For the best overall deal go to lurker paintball and order the axe kit. If you want to make your axe a little better yet, get a virtue upper board/eyes.

I have seen you mention this before. When I go to the Virtue site I see a listing for laser eyes for the Axe (red/green). They are 34.99. Is this what you are talking about? As a returning player with little experience with these electro guns, I get a little lost when you start talking internals.

Is the stock brd at a real disadvatage when compared to the Virtue mini/axe brd (114.99), Virtue Axe oled brd (189.99), or the Redline Brd 219.99? Are any of these a must for tourney play?

Virtue eyes are cool, but not needed for the function of the gun. Also, I wouldn't buy a bolt until you break in the reg as it won't make any difference nor will you gain much. A barrel is a must and with most of the bolts on the market, underboring is the key to best results from the bolts.

There's a lot I disagree with in the post above me, but I'll tell you why. On axes there is an upper and lower board. The eyes are mounted to the upper board as is the microswitch. The stock microswitch is like ~80 gram and the virtue is a 20 gram. That allows for a much more pleasant trigger pull. The second part of that is that the upper board (being integrated with the eyes) is prone to failure. It is also one of, if not the hardest parts to get to on the gun. My opinion is that for $30 on eBay you can get the virtue board and get a lifetime warranty on a board that will last. You really don't want this to go down mid day. The lower board (in the front grip) is fine and I run the stock shockwave. Even if it goes out you can fix it in a couple minutes and replacements are cheap.

You may want to download an axe manual before you buy, but they're incredibly simple.

Edit: I also forgot to mention on the Axe the aftermarket bolts offer immediate benefits. The eigenbolt works differently than the stock bolt because of the unique spacer.

As for axe vs dm9. You can pick up an upgraded dm9 for about 350-400. The dm feels much better in the hands and is the better shooter. Dm9 was released as a high end marker and still is that. The axe was released as a mid level gun, even though pros shoot them (paintball4alex)haha. But the dm if tuned properly will be smoother and quieter than a tuned axe.

As for axe vs dm9. You can pick up an upgraded dm9 for about 350-400. The dm feels much better in the hands and is the better shooter. Dm9 was released as a high end marker and still is that. The axe was released as a mid level gun, even though pros shoot them (paintball4alex)haha. But the dm if tuned properly will be smoother and quieter than a tuned axe.

Most of this is, in fact, true. DM9s are absolutely fantastic and are IMO probably the best guns Dye has put out. Again, it kind of depends on the OP's objective. A well tuned DM is smoother and quieter than a well tuned stock axe, I agree, however an axe with an eigenbolt is just as smooth if not smoother and is just as quiet if not quieter and is more efficient, macroless and cheap.